Agency of Curiosities
by aeon fear
Summary: Angels fall from the sky in this new YYH adventure. But nothing is what it seems...for the YYH gang is about to collide with the mysterious Agency of Curiosities! A copy of the Black Chapter? Please read and review!
1. bird in a cage

"Damn It."

"Quiet," another voice, a female, admonished. "Do you want them to hear us, Gamal?"

Gamal did quiet, save for the glare that he shot at the serene, white-haired girl beside him. The girl knew that he was watching her, and indicated for him to watch the scene below them.

They were obviously searching for them. The girl mentally cursed. They hadn't expected them to catch their scent so quickly. That was why they had strode so confidently into this place. Worse still, she and Gamal were alone. They could take them out, but that would lead to conflict.

The "agency" always avoided conflict. And as Gamal's superior, she should, and would, enforce this rule when necessary.

"Gamal." She spoke, breaking the rule of silence. "I will distract them. There are only four of them. You escape."

Gamal's pale purple eyes widened in the moonlight. "But, Iris-"

"We will get caught immediately if both of our spiritual signatures attempt to disappear from this place." She explained. "I will follow."

Gamal wasn't backing off. "I don't-"

"I am your superior, Gamal," Iris pointed out. "You shall obey me."

Her eyes, golden and unfeeling, caught Gamal's. They stayed that way for a while, then Gamal looked away. Somehow no one had managed to stared Iris down. Those eyes …

"You better follow." Gamal threatened. "Or I may kill these spirit detectives myself."

She smiled. "The "Agency" is a neutral organization. You may lose all you've gained if you try to avenge me. Besides," she added, preparing to launch herself into the air, "I do not plan on dying that easily. "

* * *

"Where did it go?" Urameshi Yusuke cursed. They had been hunting out the source of the strange spiritual energy for a while now, but without much success.

"It's near." Hiei replied, his eyes scanning the darkened street. "Somewhere above-"

Without any warning, a white shape hurtled through the air, aiming for Kurama. The fox jumped back just in time. Dust rose in a cloud, and they waited with bated breath for their visitor to appear. br br

"Is that-" Yusuke began.

"A girl!" exclaimed Kuwabara.

Gracefully, the girl rose to her feet. Physically, she didn't seem to be much older than Kurama, at least, but her hair was long and white, falling into braided ropes at her feet. Wings rose on either side of her back. Her eyes, surveying them, were a startling gold. She was draped in a navy blue robe whose timeline origins were difficult to identify, and they billowed around her as if in a wild wind.

"Is she an angel?" Kuwabara stage-whispered.

"Baka," hissed Hiei, then shot forward, katana in hand.

The girl silently parried Hiei's blade with casual indifference. He tried to probe her mind, but-

"Damn it," Cursed Hiei as an unknown force hurled him physically, fifty feet away, with the strength of a professional shot-putter.

"Hiei!" Kurama yelled.

"You tried to invade my mind." The girl said in a melancholy voice. "Understand that I did not do it out of malice. It is an automatic defense."

"Who are you?!" shouted Yusuke.

Her wings fluttered in irritation. "You humans think that I am deaf. I am not. Do not yell."

"I asked you-"

"I suppose you can call me an agent." She said.

"Agent for who?" Hiei said sharply.

"It doesn't matter, as I don't think we'll meet again."

From the top of a nearby building, a spiritual energy signature flashed once, then disappeared.

"What was that?" Yusuke said.

"There were two of you." Kurama said, catching on swiftly. "You distracted us."

Her wings fluttered again. "Amazing insight. But you were always the brilliant one, weren't you, Youko?"

"How did you-"

"I see that my colleague is gone," she said. "It is time for me to be going as well."

"Not so fast," Yusuke began, but she was already flying away.

If it weren't for Kurama, they would never have caught the angel, as Kuwabara called her. As it was, Kurama's vines barely caught her ankle and pulled her rapidly back down. They saw her eyes widen, her wings pump a bit harder, as she tried to escape. Kurama's vines pulled her down still, and this time, a vine wrapped around her right wing.

It tightened. The angel let out a small gasp, inaudible to human ears, as the bones in her right wing snapped. She stopped struggling.

And when Kurama gently let her go in Yusuke's arms, they saw that her golden eyes had closed. She had fainted.

"What do we do now?" Kuwabara muttered, his eyes wide.


	2. consciousness and flight

AN: For those who saw the first edition of the first chapter, I apologize for the br's. I used to write somewhere with HTML. Without further ado, here's chapter two!

Disclaimer: I do not own YYH…only the Agency of Curiosities and all its members.

Please review, I'll sincerely appreciate it!

* * *

Iris felt the fog of pain lift. At other times, it was a relief. She lay with her eyes closed, trying to remember where she was, why she was hurt. Bertrand had always told her to analyze a situation carefully before she acted.

Then she remembered.

Gamal.

Her last instructions.

The encounter.

Gamal's escape.

Then-she tried to escape too, but that red-haired boy caught her as easily as a trapped bird. Her wings twitched in annoyance.

"Hey, did you see that?" a voice exclaimed in wonder.

"Is she awake?"

_That voice…_she thought. But she still waited. There were the familiar auras she felt at the park. Then another aura-a stranger, the one closest to her. Someone was healing her. A female ice demon, she guessed.

She opened her eyes slowly. Everything was hazy at first, but at last she found herself awake enough to focus on the pair of red eyes, framed by mint green hair.

"How do you feel?" she asked. Her voice was gentle.

Iris's eyes left the healer, and roved around. There were the four boys who they encountered in the park. She stirred feebly, pretending to be weak. "Where-Where am I?" She stared at the redhead's eyes. "Did you bring me to Koenma?"

"No," he answered. "He doesn't know that you're in my room."

She sat up. The healer tried to protest.

"I haven't-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Iris flexed her wings experimentally. A jolt of pain flashed through her whole body, and she hunched forward, her eyes shut. That _hurt, _a good deal more than it ought to.

"Are you alright?" three voices chorused. After hearing all of them speak at least once, she knew who spoke. The healer, the redhead, and the tall human.

"Leave me alone." She said in a voice raw with displeasure.

Heedless to her command, the healer put her hands over her right wing and healed it. Iris sighed and let her do as she wished. It was quite obvious that the four boys would protect her. In any case, she felt no desire to harm her.

When the healer was finished, Iris looked at her. "What is your name?" Iris asked finally.

"Yukina."

"Yukina." She repeated. "A nice name. You come from Koorime?"

Yukina nodded. "You know the place?"

"I traveled there." Iris shrugged. Her wings were fully healed now. She retracted them, making them disappear until she needed them again.

"Whoa." It was the tall human who spoke. "So you really are an angel."

Iris' brows scrunched in frustration. "Human, I am not."

"Then what are you?" It was the fire demon who asked.

Iris' lips curved into a rare smile. "An Agent."

"You keep repeating that, woman," the fire demon remarked.

"Because it's true," she replied. "Now, may I ask you some questions?" She glanced around again. The redhead's room was small, with six people in it they were cramped. "Why haven't you killed me?"

The shorter human snorted with displeasure. "We don't murder wounded strangers in their sleep."

She fixed her golden gaze on him. "And you are?"

"Urameshi Yusuke," he said proudly.

"I'm Kuwabara Kazuma," the tall human said eagerly.

"I never asked you," she said coldly. She looked at the redhead. "Youko, right?"

"In another life," said the boy. "Now I'm simply Kurama."

"Names matter little." She mused. She tugged at one of her rope-like braids. She needed to think. The Agency will not be pleased if they knew of her situation. Perhaps she could contact Gamal. But how was she supposed to do that, surrounded by her captors?

"Whatever the detective might say," Interrupted the fire demon, "the only reason why I haven't killed you is because I wasn't sure you what you were."

"My, my, aren't we chatty," she drawled. "Hiei of the Jagan." Her eyes flicked to Yukina, just for a second. "Have you finished your…mission yet?"

Hiei was no fool. Iris knew that he knew what she meant. In a split second, he acted.

There was a black blur, a yell, and the next thing Iris knew, Hiei's katana was at her throat.

_Impressive._ She thought. But she said, "Go on, Jaganshi." Her tone was mocking and contemptuous. "Slit my throat, if you dare."

"You…" Hiei seemed helpless with rage.

"Shuiichi!" a new voice echoed up the stairs. "I'm home!"

For a second, they all froze.

_So the foolish boy brought me here, a danger to his own mother,_ she thought indifferently. She took advantage of their paralysis to escape out the door. The window was too small for her, anyway.

From the moment she began to move, Hiei was running after her. However, she knew that he couldn't move as freely with an innocent in the house.

She was hampered by no such restrictions.

She reached the top of the stairs. A woman had almost passed by, but she stopped at the sight of her. "Oh, Good afternoon. Are you a friend of Shuiichi's?"

Behind her, unseen by the woman, she felt Hiei stop. She smiled at the woman. "A mere acquaintance, I'm afraid. Still, it's nice to meet you. I was just about to go."

The others had followed Hiei.

"Oh, but a girl like you shouldn't walk out there alone, even in daylight," the woman said, looking genuinely concerned. "Shuiichi, you and the rest of your friends can walk this girl to her home."

She started to go down. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Kurama flinch as she stepped closer to his mother. "Of course, Mother," Kurama said, his voice strained.

"It's really not necessary," she said, taking the woman's hands into her own. "I would hate to bother Shuiichi." _and of course, this is an opportunity for escape. A very nice escape. _

"I insist." The woman replied. "What's your name, dear?"

"Iris," she replied. She knew that this human could not see anything unusual with her. After all, she had disguised herself as a human, with blond hair and clear gray eyes. It would only last for a few minutes, and it wasn't a disguise she used often, but it would do.

"Iris. What a beautiful name."

"Thank you, ma'am." She said politely.

"We'll walk you home," Yusuke said, his voice forcefully cheerful.

She could see no way to escape. "Of course." She said, resigned.

They kept a pretense of normalcy until they stepped out the front gate. Then she began to run again, shedding her uncomfortable disguise as her feet lightly touched the ground. She knew that at the rate she was going, Yukina and Kuwabara wouldn't be able to follow. Already she could feel Hiei, Yusuke and Kurama speeding along with her.

Slowly, gradually, she led them into the river.

And as abruptly as she began, she stopped. Yusuke nearly crashed into her.

"What is it?" Kurama asked warily.

She stared at them. "Goodbye," she said simply, then jumped into the river.

"No, wait!" Yusuke shouted, reaching for her. Before either of them could touch the water, two figures shot out of it-a young boy with curly red hair and pale purple eyes, and a giant werewolf with blades jutting out of his knees and elbows. The werewolf's fangs were scary, as were his fully extended claws.

"Who are you?" Kurama asked, his rose whip raised.

Iris had jumped back on the bank, her golden eyes narrowed. "Gamal. Icey. What are you doing here?"

"We have a new client." Icey answered her in his raspy voice, ignoring the boys.

"How are you, Iris?" Gamal said, his eyes concerned. "I waited a long time."

"I..." she paused. "We should go."

"No," Icey countered. "We should meet the client first. Or rather," he said, flexing his claws, "You should meet him."

"I'd rather not talk about it here," Iris said. Kuwabara, she sensed, was coming. With Icey's form, they were breaking a major rule-the secrecy of the Makai.

Icey bared his teeth. Iris was secretly glad that she was still Icey's superior. He was less submissive than Gamal, though. And when he spoke next, Iris forgot her anxiety at being caught.

"No. For the client is their leader, Koenma."


	3. revelations

Disclaimer: I do not own YYH.

Please review!

This takes place shortly after the series.

* * *

"Lord Koenma, they're here."

The toddler sighed. No, strictly speaking, he wasn't _the_ toddler just yet, having chosen to be in his teenager form when the agents arrived.

"Send them in."

"And…" the messenger hesitated. "The spirit detectives are here, too."

He raised his brows in surprise. "That's just as well. I was going to send for them next."

The messenger exited. Koenma sighed again, wishing that he never had the need to call on the Agency again. To rely on a separate agency…it was a blow to his pride, in as much as anything else. But nobody else would do.

Gamal whistled softly as they were shown into Koenma's office. "For a guy who everyone thinks is loaded, he sure has a shabby office. The Triad's reception area's smaller than this cupboard. I hope he'll pay us well, or do you think he's flat broke?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara smothered their laughter. Koenma scowled. Gamal gave him an innocent smile.

Icey frowned at Gamal. "Don't insult the client."

"Well, I was just telling the truth." Gamal's smile was replaced by a smirk. "And what does the Spirit World require of the Agency?"

"Will anyone just explain what this "Agency" is?" Yusuke said impatiently.

"Is that necessary?" yawned Gamal. "We usually don't provide information about the Agency itself to the client. We assume that they do have some knowledge of who we are and what we do. " This was said with some contempt for the human level of intelligence.

"This will be an exception, as you'll be working with my detectives," Koenma said.

"_**WHAT?!**_" Yusuke, Kuwabara and Gamal exclaimed.

"Agents usually don't work with Spirit Detectives." Icey said. His wolf eyes were narrowed.

"This will be an exception," Koenma repeated.

"What do you need?" Iris asked, though she thought she knew.

"I need the second copy of the Black Chapter."

This time, even Hiei and Kurama were stunned. A long silence seeped into the room, and Iris thought that she would have to wait an eternity before it ended. Of course. They thought they had destroyed it. They would not believe. When Kurama finally spoke, it was in a breathless whisper.

"A second…copy?" he murmured.

"Will someone tell me if I'm still on the same planet," Yusuke said angrily. "We destroyed the Black Chapter. _Hiei_ cut it up. Then you go an tell us that there was a second copy?" Yusuke laughed bitterly. "Is this some kind of a joke?"

Icey and Gamal looked at each other.

"Iris is best at explaining," Icey said at last.

"Yes," Gamal agreed. "I think that it's necessary."

"Just as long as she doesn't breach any rules of secrecy,"

"By thunder, I _hate_ clueless humans," Gamal groaned. "And now we'll have to watch out for them, too."

"What do you mean?" Kuwabara dared ask. Gamal and Icey glared at him.

"Icey, Gamal, stop that." Iris said. They instantly shut up and stared ahead, faces expressionless. "I will take care of this."

Iris sat down in the only chair in front of Koenma's desk, Icey and Gamal standing like soldiers on either side of her. "First of all, the Agency. I agree with Gamal. It is necessary for the humans to know who the Agency is, and what its agents do. It's truly very simple.

"The full name of our agency is the Agency of Curiosities."

"What?" Yusuke said, laughing.

"Stop interrupting me, Urameshi." Iris' voice was low, deadly. Yusuke shut up. She seemed to have that effect on most people. "To continue. The Agency tracks down objects of interest-this is a broad definition, we find many things interesting- and collects them. Sometimes we produce a copy. Sometimes we steal them. Often, we make them. Rarely, we destroy them. It all depends on what the client wants, really. If we're not on a mission, we're making more…objects of curiosity."

"So you're just a bunch of mad scientists." Hiei sneered. The next thing he knew, he was pinned to the wall by Icey's claws. It was so fast, nobody had time to anticipate it.

"You stink of ignorance, demon," growled Icey. His claws tightened.

Iris and Gamal didn't blink. They were used to this.

The others weren't as complacent. Koenma was demanding that Icey put Hiei down, Yusuke was shouting, Kurama was stiff with apprehension. But Icey wasn't listening.

"Didn't know that you were so easily affected." Hiei choked out, despite his dwindling air supply.

"Icey, stop that. It is not our job to cure him of his sharp tongue." Iris said in a dispassionate voice.

Icey growled one last time, then let go. "You should thank Iris."

"I don't owe her anything," Hiei muttered.

"That may be true." Iris said, amused. "After all, your life must not be worth much."

"You-!"

"You were saying, Miss Iris?" prompted Kurama quickly, to avoid another fight."

Iris blinked. "There is little else. We agents have a few rules, but we obey them strictly. One of these rules is client confidentiality. I can't tell you what other missions we have had. We have no problems working for anyone. We might work for you today and against you in the next week, depending on the client. But we prefer neutrality. If it's about artifacts, the Agency's the one to contact. Even the Spirit World Vault that you keep boasting about is a poor display compared to an experienced team's hoard. The Black Chapter came to us twenty years ago. It was retrieved by a spirit detective, but not before we made a copy of it."

"I wanted to ask," Yusuke said, "Why Gamal and Icey seem to obey you unconditionally."

"Iris is our boss," Gamal said.

"The Agency works in teams of three., a leader and two members. The name of the Triad should give you that-they're our superior, and the whole agency is patterned after them." Iris explained. "Nobody can disobey the Triad. I'm guessing that they were the ones Koenma contacted, to get our names."

"Get your names?" Kurama questioned.

"The Black Chapter was this team's project. Once a project is taken, no one else can take it."

"So where is it?" Yusuke asked.

"Somewhere," Iris said vaguely.

"I thought you were going to give it to us!" Yusuke said indignantly.

"We never said we wouldn't," Iris said mildly. "There is a fee, of course, a high one at that. Pay half, then we bring it to you. After we bring it to you, pay the other half."

"How much will it be?" Koenma asked.

"Let's see…Five million yen." Iris said.

"That's too much!" Kuwabara gasped.

"Each," Iris emphasized.

"Very well." Koenma said gravely.

"How come you pay them?" Yusuke said. "You're unfair, toddler!"

"They're with a separate agency.." Koenma said simply. He stood. "On one condition. My spirit detectives will go with you to your hiding place."

"Don't trust us, don't you?" Gamal sneered.

"No, I don't. Did you make any more copies?"

Iris paused for the barest fraction of a second. "No."

"He doesn't trust us on that count, either," snorted Gamal.

"Trust is sometimes necessary," Iris said. "It doesn't matter if they join us or not. But the hiding place is in the Makai."

"It doesn't matter to us, either," Hiei said.

"Then it's all arranged." Iris stood. "We meet here tomorrow. We will be gone for three days. Bring whatever you might need."

"Wait! I still don't know if Iris is really an angel or not!" Kuwabara protested.

"I am a demon, human." Iris said impatiently. "I know I resemble what you humans call angels, but I assure you I am anything but. Are there any more questions?"

"Is Icey your real name?" Kuwabara blurted out suddenly, looking at the werewolf-demon. It was quite obvious that he had been longing to ask this for some time.

Gamal snorted with laughter. Even Iris seemed less distant as she fought a smile.

Icey was rigid. "You may not call me by that name. My true name is Isaac Cornelius Euvquia Yozoran. Call me Yozoran."

"I think "Icey" makes things less complicated," Gamal commented. "Your initials, you see."

"Shut up, Gamal." Icey said grumpily. "Unless you want to lose a limb."

"As if you could."

"Want to test that?"

"Stop it! I will not baby-sit you for the duration of this mission!" Iris snapped.

They stopped. Had Icey not been looking so fierce, Yusuke would have laughed.

"How did you meet my spirit detectives?" Koenma asked curiously.

"Gamal and I were only combing the human area for possible materials we might use in a new project," Iris said. "They felt our spirit energy and chased us out. We could have fought, I suppose, but we preferred to evade the detectives. They caught me. I was about to escape them a second time when Gamal and Icey arrived with the news that we had a new client. We came here, and the detectives, mainly out of suspicion, followed us."

"Admirably short and detailed," Gamal mumbled. Iris frowned at him.

"Tomorrow," Iris whispered. Then she turned and left, taking the other two agents with her.

* * *

Koenma looked at Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei. "The mission will be dangerous. Treachery isn't a new thing in the Agency of Curiosities. I will be sending all four of you. There is a possibility that they made more than one copy, but when I asked them, the Triad said that they didn't know anything about it. Destroy the tape as soon as you receive it."

"Are you sure about that, toddler?" Yusuke said.

"Yes. It is better that way."

* * *

In another place, Iris, Gamal, and Icey gathered in the bloody twilight. On top of a building, as Iris liked. She had a love of high places, and the other two tolerated their leader's eccentricities.

Icey spoke. "I like them."

Gamal was annoyed. "You like everyone, Icey."

Iris smiled faintly as Gamal and Icey glared daggers at each other. "Unfortunately I have to say that's true."

Gamal jumped up. "_They hurt Iris._ I'll never forgive them that."

"I was foolish. Youko Kurama was with them. Even Hiei of the Jagan…" thoughtfully she flexed her wings. "I should have stopped to recognize them. They are famous after all, for participating in that brutish Tournament and winning."

"I watched." Icey said.

"As did I." Iris said.

Gamal frowned. "You had tickets and didn't tell me?"

Icey shrugged. "You were off backing up another team. By the time you got back, it was over."

"You owe me." Grumped Gamal.

"You didn't miss much." Iris said.

"Still…" Gamal said, unwilling to let it go.

"All right, next time." Iris gave in.

They sat in contented silence for a few minutes. "They will be expecting treachery." Icey commented, lazily sharpening his claws on the stone rooftop.

"Then I say let's give them what they want," Gamal said with a smirk.

Iris' gold eyes darted to her companions for a second, considering them. Then she whispered the Agency's mantra: "Client satisfaction…"

"Guaranteed," they all finished.

Silence again, but it was the silence of a hunter in anticipation for a kill.

"Let's go," Iris said at last. "We must make the preparations."

And together, they disappeared.


	4. offenses and defenses

Author's Note: I'm so sorry. I've been busy!

Disclaimer: I do not own YYH, only the Agency of Curiosities and all its members.

Timeline: After the series. Let's say that Yusuke was never fired, 'kay?

Summary: Getting started on the mission itself and a small demonstration of the Agent's power.

When Kurama stepped out of their house the next day, intending to meet up with Yusuke and the others before taking the portal to Koenma's, there was another redhead waiting for him by the gate.

"Gamal?" he said warily. The boy was leaning on the gate with his arms folded, looking bored. At the sight of him, he stood up properly and unfolded his arms.

"Iris wanted to keep an eye on you," Gamal said.

"On me specifically?"

Gamal's eyes narrowed. "No, in your group in general. But I'm going with you because you have a debt to pay."

"Does Iris know about this?"

"**NO**!" he snapped. "Just because Iris is our leader doesn't mean I have to ask for permission for every little thing!"

"I'd rather not do it here," Kurama said quietly. His mother was just inside…

Gamal smirked. "Do you think I'd listen?"

"Rose Whip!" Kurama shouted, and in a barely discernible movement flicked his whip at Gamal.

Gamal ducked easily, standing on their fence. He was laughing.

"I'm almost embarrassed for you. How pathetic." Gamal leaned forward, eyes glinting with malice. "Do you know what demon type I am?"

"If you dare-" Kurama began.

"**GAMAL**!" someone said sharply, and they turned. An tall, solid-looking old man was walking towards them, looking furious. The newcomer had short silver hair, slicked back, and silvery-grey eyes. He was wearing a neat white tunic with immaculately clean white trousers.

"Icey…" muttered Gamal, hopping down from the fence.

"What did you think you were doing?!"

"And why must I answer that?" snarled Gamal. "You don't care!"

"Oh yes I do. Iris sent you and me to keep tabs on them, didn't she? So your actions would naturally affect me as well!"

"You're Icey?" Kurama said, puzzled. He had heard of human forms for demons, but he hadn't known that it applied to wolves such as Icey.

"Of course. This form is a disguise. It's best for short term, but I don't think I'll need to suffer the adverse effects of staying in this disguise for too long."

"Why are you here?" Gamal cut in. "I thought you were going to watch the others!"

"The others are at their meeting place already, including the Grim Reaper. I wondered what was taking you so long. The others told me that Kurama's usually punctual." He paused. "As of this point they're as good as our clients, Gamal. Work out your vengeance later."

Gamal "hhmph"'d but said nothing. Icey turned to Kurama.

"I apologize." He said shortly, and then began to lead them to Yusuke's house, where they had agreed to meet. Fortunately it was nearby.

Kurama was wondering at the obvious tension between Icey and Gamal. For teammates, they seemed almost as argumentative as Hiei and Kuwabara.

And they were of the same rank…

"There you are!" Yusuke said in relief. "What happened?"

"I…just got held up." Kurama said feebly.

"Good morning, Kurama!" Botan exclaimed cheerfully.

"'morning," he replied.

"Since we're all here, I think that we should go," Icey said. "This disguise is itching."

Kuwabara burst out laughing. "Itching?"

Before Icey could compose a scathing reply, Botan laid a hoop on the ground and said, "This will be our portal."

"You gotta be kidding me." Yusuke said, staring at the hoop. "I can't fit in there."

The portal had begun to glow yellow.

"As long as your foot fits, you'll fit," Botan told Yusuke. "Look, I'll go first." She put her foot inside the circle and the rest of her quickly disappeared.

"Well I guess if Botan says it's safe, it is," Kuwabara said nervously, and followed.

"Whatever." Yusuke said, and stepped in as well.

Icey, Kurama and Gamal stood staring at the hoop.

"How boring," drawled Gamal. He turned to face Kurama, an evil look in his eyes. "I'm not finished yet, Youko Kurama. You better watch your back.."

"Gamal!" barked Icey.

Gamal shrugged and jumped in.

Icey walked forward to follow, leaving Kurama with nothing to do but to follow as well.

Iris and Hiei were already there. "You're late," Koenma said.

"It's Kurama's fault," grumbled Yusuke.

Iris' eye narrowed, and Icey knew that she realized what Gamal did. However, she would have to scold Gamal later. For now there was a job to be done.

"The place we are going is called the V'el Vida," she began. "It's a city in a Makai, in the country of Jolsug. You would need disguises. They don't welcome humans there."

"And we don't have time to pick up fights because of you," Gamal added.

"V'el Vida?" Koenma said. "You're bringing my detectives there?"

"They're big boys." Icey said, once more back in his wolf form.

"Where is Velly Vida?" Kuwabara asked.

Icey sighed. "_**V'el Vida**_."

"Yeah, that."

"I guess it's like Las Vegas, on Earth," Kurama tried to explain. "Only more vicious." He looked at Iris. "You hid the second copy there? Aren't you afraid it'll get stolen?"

"They could try," shrugged Iris. "We do have defenses around the place-not only that, the actual copy is hard to find. But all I can say is, the best place to hide a leaf is in the thicket."

"You have a point."

"I suppose that Jaganshi here is familiar with V'el Vida," Icey said. "More so for Youko Kurama."

"Hn."

"You've been there?" Yusuke asked with interest.

"Youko was born there," Kurama explained.

"Quite right." Iris said. "Gamal was born there, as well."

Kurama was surprised. Most V'el Vidans turned out to be thieves. Gamal turned out to be an Agent.

"Don't look so surprised." Gamal said resentfully. "That's the only thing we have in common."

Iris shot him a warning look. Gamal pretended not to notice.

"Take this," Iris told Yusuke and Kuwabara, giving them one black diamond-shaped gem each. "This will disguise you as demons, if only for a while." "Don't let go of it if you value your life."

"What is this?" Kuwabara said as he took his. "I feel my body tingling…"

"It is one of the Agency's inventions." Was all Iris would say. Kurama was amazed. As soon as Yusuke and Kuwabara's hands closed on it, their human smell disappeared.

"I don't feel any different, physically." Kuwabara said.

"You won't be mistaken as a human." Kurama assured him

"Let us go." Iris said. "You should return those after the mission."

"Wait." Koenma said. They all turned to look at him. "If you kill one of my spirit detectives, it will mean an all-out war between the Spirit world and the Agency of Curiosities."

Iris was indifferent. "Is it a war you think you will win?" she asked softly, her golden eyes serious. She didn't wait for an answer, only opening a cone-shaped portal with a wave of her hand.

Koenma stared after them. He was staring after them even after all of them had disappeared into the portal, even after the portal disappeared.

"Sir?" Botan said cautiously. He seemed to be in a strange mood. He looked very thoughtful.

_Was_ it a war they could win?

"We are here." Iris announced. It was unnecessary. They had come out on a small cave, and just outside the cave, V'el Vida loomed. It had tall buildings, blinding lights. It was almost similar to a human town at night.

"Las Vegas…" Kuwabara said in awe.

"Shut up, human," Gamal said.

"_**Gamal**_," Iris said warningly. To the Detectives she said, "Stick close to us, especially the humans. Most of them know better than to approach us, but the world supplies us with new fools everyday."

And Yusuke could see the reason why. When they got outside, the Agents led them deftly through side streets and dark alleys stinking with otherworldly garbage. Low-level demons leered at them from the darkness, but a look form one of the Agents kept them in the shadows. Kuwabara was trying no to act scared. Once Yusuke even saw a severed demon's head half-hidden in a trash can. V'el Vida was a world of violence.

They turned twice more, and all of a sudden they were facing the biggest casino Yusuke had ever seen. He couldn't even see the very top of the building- it was so high. Letters were posted on the front, but unfortunately Yusuke couldn't read it.

"The Gamble," Iris explained. "The biggest casino in the Makai. Many criminals roam that building. But our goal is not that building."

"Where is it, then?" Yusuke asked.

"That one." Said Icey, nodding to a building two blocks away from The Gamble. It was a humble gray building, similar to an apartment building. "We own that. The Black Chapter is there."

"Why did you have to go and copy it, anyway?" Yusuke grumbled.

"It was interesting," Gamal answered simply. "Let's go."

At the building entrance, they had their first hostile encounter. A menacing-looking ogre was crouched at the door.

"Why, hello, Iris," he jeered. "Back again? I thought I already brought this place."

"Move aside," Iris said, completely unperturbed.

The ogre scowled. "I said I brought this building!" He raised a fist to strike Iris.

Kurama saw a flash of silver. The next second, the ogre was lying on his back, dead, one of Icey's blades protruding from his chest.

Yusuke was stunned. "Just…that quick?"

"He was blocking our way," Icey said, stepping over the body and letting himself in the building. "Deluded fool."

"He brought this building?" Kuwabara said, looking angry. "Why did you kill him?"

"Stop looking like that. He didn't buy this building-at least, not from us. Whoever he gave his money to was someone clever enough to fool him. Most likely, he was just trying to get us to move out." Gamal looked at them. The Agents were already inside the building. "What are you waiting for?"

Reluctantly, they followed.

"It's on the third floor," Iris murmured. The building was dark, but Hiei could tell it was clean. They trudged up the stairs.

The third floor had no door.

"How are we going to get in?" Hiei asked, his eyes narrowed. There was a mind-blowing amount of energy sleeping within this building, which was strange, because only a few objects can emit spirit energy-and only in a small amount. It was like walking through a building made of clipped grenades.

Iris was staring at a certain point in the wall. "Here. We enter here."

"How?" Hiei repeated.

Iris raised a hand. A slit-shaped portal appeared in the wall, glowing scarlet. "_Avec'suma, Killian_." She whispered, as if in a trance. "Seven of us wish to enter."

The next second, Yusuke jumped back with a yell. The slit opened, revealing a reptilian eye- black. It was easily as big as Icey, who stood seven feet tall. The scarlet slit was the pupil itself.

"**Masters**," said a voice, resounding through the whole building. "Welcome." The next moment, an ordinary door appeared in the wall, just like that. Iris seized that handle and pulled.

They entered a large room, bare save for the six-foot Victorian-style dollhouse that stood in the center and a light bulb. Gamal flicked the light on. The detectives lingered behind, still astonished.

"You better hurry up," Icey said from the inside. "Killian isn't particularly nice."

They scrambled inside. As soon as they were all in, the door disappeared again.

"What was that?!" Yusuke said, shocked.

"Killian," said Gamal absently, walking towards the dollhouse. "He's a hellbeast that we tamed. He guards this building."

"Guards?"

"His body is this building, in a way," Gamal explained impatiently. "Look, it's all complicated to explain if you're not an Agent, much more so if you're a human."

"You-"

"Both of you stop it," said Iris. "The Black Chapter is inside this dollhouse."

"Let's open it up, then," Yusuke said impatiently.

"It's not that simple," Iris said, crouching down in front of it. "We must enter this dollhouse."

"You'll make us doll-size?" Yusuke said in amazement.

Gamal was pushing some buttons on the side of the tiled roof. The dollhouse came to life, lights flicking on, the chimney emitting smoke. "No, idiot. We'll enter the dollhouse and be small enough…oh I hate explaining, just enter through the door, allright?" He seized the door with two fingers and disappeared. The detectives watched in fascination as the door opened and something came in. A second later, Gamal was looking at them through a tiny window.

"How…" Kurama began.

"I suggest you just enter." Icey said, pushing the door open with his snout. "It's not going to kill you." Then he, too, disappeared.

Iris was watching them. "The dollhouse will not diminish your spirit energy. Only the size. These measures were made to ensure the Black chapter's safety. After three days, we will all return to normal. I swear it."

Kurama stared into her eyes.

"If you do not want to go," Iris said, "You can stay here. Although Killian would not let you out without my permission, and I don't know what you'll do for food and water."

"Hn." Hiei said, and seized the doorknob. Yusuke and Kuwabara followed.

"Kurama?" Iris prompted, as they were left alone in the room.

"Iris, I just wanted to apologize." Kurama told her.

Iris blinked. "For what?"

"For breaking your wing. That first night."

"Oh." Iris paused. "I'd advise you not to think about it. It's all right."

Kurama searched for something else to say. She seemed content to sit there with him, but then again, he'd never seen Iris more at ease when she was with Icey and Gamal.

"What is it?" Iris said.

"Nothing," Kurama replied, and seized the doorknob. There was a feeling of nothingness, then…

Then he found himself inside an ordinary Victorian-style house, with the others. A second later, Iris appeared, closing the door behind her. Her white braids dragged behind her, touching the ground, as always.

"Welcome to the Motion House," she said smoothly. "Let the mission now _truly_ begin."


	5. deceptions

Author's Note: I'm so sorry. I've been busy!

Disclaimer: I do not own YYH, only the Agency of Curiosities and all its members.

Timeline: After the series. Let's say that Yusuke was never fired, 'kay?

Summary: The actual plot is starting! Yay! Let's play a game!

* * *

"You must be hungry," Iris said. "we couldn't allow you to ask questions earlier, but please, join us in some lunch and we'll explain.."

"Is this really the dollhouse? It seems everything's functioning, not like the toy ones…where's the Black chapter? We can just take it and go…" Kuwabara babbled, making Gamal turn to him with narrowed eyes.

"Shut up, human," he snarled.

Kuwabara shut up instantly.

"Gamal will be the one making us lunch, so please try not to irritate him." Iris said placidly, leading the way into the dining room. "He tends to burn food when he's angry."

"Oh, are you a fire demon?" Yusuke said in surprise.

Gamal shrugged. "Maybe," he muttered, before disappearing into the kitchen. The architecture of the house was impressive, reminiscent of the eighteenth-century mansions.

"To be precise, he is an ice flame demon," Iris said. They seated themselves at the dining table. Icey, however, remained standing, as there was no chair fit for him. "Ice flame demons are rare in the Makai."

"And you? What type of demon are you?" Hiei deadpanned.

Iris smiled. "That's something you will soon find out."

"Hey, Kurama, what's an ice flame demon?" Kuwabara asked the redhead nervously.

Kurama spared half a glance for Hiei before answering. "Iris means that Gamal's flames aren't the ordinary type of fire, but somewhat like ice. Actually I've never seen one before."

"That's because most of them are extinct." Icey said.

"I'd rather not go into details of my demon type, if you don't mind," Gamal said from the kitchen. Icey snorted.

"Where's the Black Chapter?" Hiei asked without preamble.

"Straight and to the point. I like that, shorty." Icey said, grinning and exposing rows of sharp teeth.

_Scary_…Yusuke thought. He looked at Hiei, looking pissed at being called "shorty" by a seven-foot wolf demon. _Even scarier_…

"The house of Motion is named this way because once people enter it, the house…goes into motion," Iris said, waving her hands vaguely. "The house has over twenty rooms. As of now, even we do not really know where the black chapter is."

"What?!" Yusuke exclaimed in shock. "Why?"

"The house, as we've said before, was built for the defense of the Black Chapter," Iris said gently. "It's hidden in one of the cabinets in the house. There are five hundred cabinets in the house, and the contents of each cabinet move around. It's random, so even if people did somehow manage to enter here, it'll take them next to forever to find the Black Chapter. Besides, most cabinets contain more defenses, like knives and bombs and traps."

"But you hid it! You ought to know where it is." Kuwabara protested.

Icey laughed "We have to defend ourselves against telepaths, who could worm the information out of us, so we defended it in such a way that not even us would find it…too easily, anyway." He yawned. "Our average is three days, so here we are."

"You seemed to have overprotected it." Kurama commented mildly.

"No," Iris said. "There's no such thing as overprotection, for an object such as the Black Chapter. I know that you know how dangerous that artifact is."

"Then why did you duplicate it in the first place?" Hiei asked in frustration.

"Because that's what the Agency does, idiot," Gamal retored, returning to the table and setting plates of round, flat, pancake-like bread and some white stew that smelled like curry.

"What is this?" Yusuke asked curiously.

"This bread is called chappati. You eat it with the curry." Iris told them. (a/n: there really is food like this. it originated in India, like curry.) "Thanks, Gamal."

Gamal shrugged as he slid into a seat. "no problem."

"You didn't poison this, did you?" Yusuke inquired suspiciously.

Gamal looked visibly insulted, but Iris began to eat, so the other had to trust that Gamal wouldn't poison their leader and eat, too.

"Itadakimashite," muttered Kuwabara. "Hmmm…it's actually good!" he said, beaming.

Gamal handed over a large piece of steak to Icey, his face sporting a very small smile, but he said nothing. Icey laughed.

"So you can smile more than once a year," Icey teased.

"Shut up." Gamal hissed.

For a while there was silence as they ate, but at last Kurama said, "there's really no pattern?"

"No." Gamal replied, looking irritated. "At least none that's consistent. And we can't start looking until tomorrow, when we can somehow predict where it goes. We haven't been in here in a while. But there are some cabinets that when opened, release a chain of activities. For example, if you open, say, cabinet A, with a trap, we can evade the trap and conclude with credible certainty that the 27th cabinet would be cabinet Z. Understand that the pattern always changes, and it isn't really that straightforward like an alphabet."

"That was almost eloquent." Commented Icey.

"Wouldn't it be more helpful if we all look?" Kurama suggested.

"No." Iris said firmly. "we'll have to split up, and then you might meet a trap that's too much for you to handle. Believe me, you'll not like it."

"How about in pairs?" Yusuke asked. "One of you and one of us. Well, one of the teams will have to be in threes."

"That's an idea," agreed Kurama. But again Iris shook her head.

"The suggestions has merits, but there's a reason we Agents work in threes. We complement each other. We'll be quicker. I'm sorry to say this," she said, politely inclining her head, "But you'll only get in our way."

"Till tomorrow, then," Kurama said in disappointment.

"What will we do until then?" Hiei asked.

'Iris smiled her rare smile. "Why don't we show you around."

* * *

That night, Hiei went to bed with a distinct feeling of uneasiness. They had rooms in pairs, except for Iris, who was alone in her room because she was a girl.

Hiei pondered. It was definitely suspicious, the way they refused help, and the way they explained things…it was too smooth, too well planned. He grunted in frustration. He didn't want to risk reading the Agent's minds, because of his experience with Iris when he first tried, but he knew that they were hiding something.

"Suspicious, too?" Kurama asked him, emerging from the bathroom.

He hn'ed. "We can't trust them."

"We aren't trusting them with anything," Kurama pointed out. "I have a bad feeling about this too. We're quite isolated from any help. And there's that hellbeast, even if we do get out of the Motion House. But we can contact Koenma if push comes to shove. And we can hold our own when it comes to a fight."

'We should just ransack the house."

"It would be too easy for them to, as Iris put it, "make" us "encounter a trap too much for us to handle." If we observe them closely tomorrow, we might be able to work out a pattern ourselves. Then we won't need to rely on them as badly as we do now."

Hiei turned to the window. It was strange, but the scene outside depicted the night sky over a silvery, sloping lawn.

"You're not going to sleep?" Kurama asked, although he knew the answer. Hiei didn't even bother with a reply.

_Bring out your worst, Agents._ Hiei thought, toughing the hilt of his sword. _I'll be here. Waiting.

* * *

_

Somewhere in the house, sometime before dawn, the Agents met.

"They're asleep?" Gamal asked Iris.

Iris shrugged. "The humans are. The Jagan boy-he doesn't trust us, he's been keeping watch all night. Youko's such a light sleeper that he'll probably wake up if we so much went past their room. The humans…well, let's say they're tired out from the journey and are sleeping their little heads off."

Gamal snickered. "It's as if the fox and the Jagan boy expect us to slit their throats as they slept."

"That plan is too straightforward." Agreed Icey. "after all, as our clients, we have to deliver the Black Chapter to them."

"And they have Koenma's protection." Added Gamal.

Iris smiled at her two members. "Those are the constraints. But there's plenty of ways we can make things hard for them without going that far."

* * *

Yusuke woke up the next day to sunlight streaming through the windows and an extremely loud alarm screeching throughout the Motion House. He bolted out of bed, fearing the worst-maybe Hiei had ransacked the house and met a trap, or something.

What a relief it was to see both Kurama and Hiei standing outside their room, looking pained at the alarm. Kuwabara, following right behind him with his hands over his ears, asked something, but over the noise of the alarm, they could barely hear themselves think, let alone each other.

Then, as abruptly as it began, it ended. In the relative silence that followed, Yusuke asked, "What the hell's going on? Is this the way they wake people up? If so I don't find it very amusing-"

"Our hosts are gone," Kurama told them.

"What?" Yusuke and Kuwabara burst out.

"Oh, They're still here," Hiei said in a rage. He was furious at himself for not seeing it coming. "They're still here, but they're not in their rooms. I don't know how they met up, they're together now, whereas all night I was marking their auras, and they were in their rooms then." He was practically snarling. "They tricked us."

"Good morning, detectives," Gamal's voice was cheerful. It seemed to come from all directions at once. They twisted and turned, but they couldn't see Gamal anywhere. "Forgive us for waking you up using the Foghorn, but Icey said that it was the only thing that would wake up the humans relatively quickly."

"well he's got that right," murmured Kurama.

"Oh, and don't bother looking for us," Gamal's voce added. "We have more hiding places than you can imagine. Rest assured that we're looking for the Black Chapter. But you won't sit still while we search, right? You don't trust us. So here's what we'll do. We'll play a special game-Race Tag.

"The rules are simple. You can ransack the house to look for the Black Chapter. If you happen to come across one of us without the Black Chapter, we'll give you a clue regarding where the Black Chapter is. If you catch one of us with the Black chapter, a fight will begin between the one with the Black chapter and the one who saw the Agent first. If your member wins the fight, the Black Chapter's yours, and we'll stop this game. If you come across the Black Chapter itself, you win, too. If you refuse to play…" Gamal paused, his voice ecstatic, "You'll probably be bombarded with the traps we set up in this place."

"That's just plain stupid." Hiei scowled.

"Oh, it might be, Jagan boy. But you'll have to play if you want to get ahead of us. You see, if we find the Black Chapter first, we'll make another copy of it. We can do it too, you know, all the equipment's right here. And then your Koenma will have to order you to get it back, isn't that so?"

Yusuke was livid. "This wasn't agreed upon!"

"Since when did we need your agreement, human?" sneered Gamal. "The time limit is forty eight hours. The game starts…now."

Gamal's voice cut off.

"What do we do?" Kuwabara asked them uncertainly.

Yusuke shoved his hands in his pockets. "Isn't it obvious?" he snapped, angry at being pushed into this situation. Angry at the Agents. Angry at himself for even trusting them a little.

He was such a fool.

"We've got to play."

* * *

Yay, now the real plot begins! I can't believe it took me five chapters. Thanks to those who read and reviewed! I promise i'll try to make the next ones quicker. Ja!

If you were confused by the chapter, just read it again! the race tag game is especially interesting. next chapter will be the game!


	6. the games begin

Recap: Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama capture an unknown girl with spirit powers one night at the park. However, the girl turns out to be a crucial character in their next mission: retrieve the copy of the Black Chapter from the mysterious Agency of Curiosities. Iris is the leader in the team of three who created another copy of the Black Chapter. The Agents lead them willingly enough to the place where the Black Chapter is kept, but once morning comes, the YYH group finds their hosts gone. The Agents had tricked them into playing their game in an unknown house against unknown enemies. 

Summary: The YYH gang find themselves unwilling players in a game that the Agency of Curiosities members lured them to. Will they find the Black Chapter before the Agents do? More importantly…Will they survive?

Disclaimer: I do not own….anything. 

This will start with Gamal's background. Isn't he interesting?

* * *

_Gamal was thirty. In human years, he would be considered a young man, but as a demon, he was barely more than a child. He crouched in the filthy streets of the V'el Vida, alone, waiting for the next victim to steal from._

_To kill. _

_The rain poured down the streets, making everything sludgy. He frowned in concentration. He cursed the fever that made him so weak now, but he had to eat, didn't he? He didn't want to die, not now anyway. _

_His vision was blurry._

_Then, something white flashed against his vision-a white so brilliant that for a moment it made everything around it seem dull in comparison. Staring, Gamal found the white to be the flowing locks of a young girl, about his age, draped in a cloak. She was barely paying attention to where she was going, trailing after a bigger cloaked figure. A small purse dangled from her wrist._

_The perfect victim… _

_Quickly, he moved towards the girl. He was taller than her, and it was relatively easy to slip behind her and put a hand to her mouth. With the other hand he pressed a knife to her throat. _

_The girl stiffened._

_"Give me all you money, girl, or I will slit you from belly to throat." He hissed. It was a common threat, one no doubt every other thief used, but that was how it was. He was a thief, not a poet. He wasn't troubled by thoughts of un-originality. _

_Yes, he had a fever, but he wouldn't need much power to kill this girl. Her skin was so soft. Gamal doubted she'd done a day's work in her life._

_The man she was following stopped, turned around, looked at her, and shrugged. He continued walking._

_He laughed in her ear, his breath unnaturally hot. "Looks like he couldn't care less about you."_

_The next thing he knew, he was flat on his back in the mud and rain. He was confused. How did that happen? He didn't even see the girl move, damn it!_

_There was a foot on his chest. The girl's, of course. She was looking down at him expressionlessly. "Perhaps my master knows that I can take care of myself, thief." She said in a low, silky voice. _

_For perhaps the first time in his young life, Gamal was afraid. This girl could kill him without a second thought. Though he encountered that fact everyday, there was something radically different this time. He deserved to die for what he planned to do with his girl. And it was in her power to claim that right. _

_He had made a terrible mistake. _

_He chose the wrong victim._

_Would it be his last mistake?_

_He did not want to die, but he wasn't going to beg for his life, either._

_"Go ahead," he said. "Kill me."_

_The rain continued to pour down. Her expression didn't change; she continued to look at him with the same absent expression she used while she was walking. It was all an illusion, her inattentive expression. In the years to come, he would realize that she usually was thinking of something serous when she looked like that. _

_For the first time, Gamal dared look into a murderess' eyes. _

_Gold…_

_Her eyes were like stones dipped in gold-the same hardness, the same luster…_

_The same brilliance. _

_He didn't blink. The girl didn't, either. Finally, Gamal turned away. Killed by a girl. And a girl he couldn't even look in the eye. Damn it into hell._

_"Well?" he said, when he couldn't stand waiting any longer. He didn't attempt to fight her. Assuming that he could grab her ankle and throw her off, this girl wouldn't be too bothered. She was stronger than him by several times. He wondered why he didn't notice it before…the fever must have been clouding his mind. _

_She removed her foot. "The next time, thief, choose your victims well. And don't hunt while you're sick. Not many would spare your life."_

_She turned away. Gamal sat up. Then, in a blink of an eye, he sank his knife onto her back._

_Blood spurted through her cloak. She turned to face him, a hand on her wound. _

_"Fool." He said. "Not many will let me live. Seems like you're one of those idiots who believe in mercy." _

_She removed the knife. "I believe this is yours." She said, then threw it into his chest. _

_He never remembered falling to the ground. _

_He was dead, he knew he was. But when he next opened his eyes, he was lying on a soft bed with a bandage across his chest. He had a clean shirt on, and he felt amazingly well. If he continued to lie down, that was. And someone had bathed him. _

_Where was he?_

_He was in a small room-a tiny guest room, he guessed. Had that girl-?_

_The door opened. A big bear-like man entered, a food tray in his hands. "Look who's awake." He said with a trace of a smirk. _

_Gamal instantly began to search for his weapons. No such luck. Whoever cleaned him took his weapons, too. _

_The man began to laugh. "Do you think that we'd let you have your knives?"_

_Now that he was well, he could use his power. _

_He pointed his palms at him. Before he could even sputter out the ghost of a flame, the man flattened him against the wall with a big hand, hitting Gamal's injured chest. He spat out blood. _

_"Kid, you're not yet strong enough to light a match." Said the man, chuckling. "Better rest up."_

_"Let go of me, you bastard," he gasped, although the man had already let go. Gamal slumped on his bed, feeling weak again. "Where am I?"_

_"You're in the Agency. That's where we work. And don't call me bastard. The name's Bertrand." He said, leaving the food tray on the table. "You might remember me, I'm that girl's master."_

_"Girl…?" he said in confusion. _

_"The one you tried to rob. She says that you needed a few lessons. I think she was right."_

_"The one I…where is she? Why did she bring me here?" after all I've done to her, he wanted to add._

_She…brought me here, healed me, cleaned me, and wants to feed me?_

_"why did she spare me…?" he whispered. He wounded her…never was he given a kind word nor gesture for his own worth. All he knew from his birth was a need to survive that overrode anything else but a desperate, aching loneliness. He did not expect it of this girl, that mercy which he mocked…"Wait, she doesn't think she'd get something out of this, does she? Because if she does, she's got another think coming. I'll still kill her first chance I get."_

_"That's no way to speak to someone who just saved your life."_

_"I didn't ask you to!" he snarled. _

_"As to killing her, you could try. I think you know that she won't be killed by trash like you. Secondly, she saw something in you that isn't seen in ordinary people."_

_"And what is that?" _

_"Why don't you stay and find out?" Bertand said, spreading his hands. "I can assure you that you can back out any time you want to." _Gamal stared at him, and said-

* * *

The door was unlocked, jolting Gamal out of his reverie. Damn. He had almost been asleep. He smiled to himself even as the spirit detectives came in. 

"YOU!" Yusuke yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at him. Gamal had to stifle a laugh. It had been only five hours since they played with the detectives, but they looked as if they had gone through a war. Yusuke's right half was charred black, Kuwabara was coated in some kind of stinky green goo, Hiei was cut all over and even Kurama seemed scratched and exhausted. It seemed that the Spirit Detectives were unlucky with their hunt so far. 

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, YOU DEMON!" Yusuke snarled. "Hand over the Black chapter, right now! Beat it!"

Gamal closed the cabinet he was searching. "Let me guess-you found the Noxi-Glue." He said, looking at Kuwabara. 

"Did you hear me!" Yusuke screamed. "I've had enough of this! Give it to us, right now!"

"I heard you the first time," Gamal said boredly. He saw Hiei speeding to him and evaded the irritable fire demon before he could slit his throat. 

Yes, Gamal had come a long way from the rogue thief to an Agent. 

"Na-ah ah," he said, waving a finger at Hiei. "No cheating. We haven't found the Black Chapter yet, so, I'll have to give you a clue." He was laughing again. He couldn't help it. "We must play by the rules." 

"We've had enough of your games." Hiei said in a dangerous voice. 

"Do you think I fear you, Jagan Eye?" Gamal sneered. "Or would you rather not hear the clue?"

Hiei started forward, but Kurama stopped him. 

"Wait, Hiei. What if they decided to destroy this house if we kill him?"

"Smart, aren't you?" Gamal said with a smirk. "I doubt you could kill me though."

Kwabara attempted to call his spirit sword, but he could barely move because of the Noxi-Glue. 

"Why are you doing this?" Kurama said, exasperated. 

Gamal smiled. "Because it's fun."

Yes, Gamal had never regretted saying "yes" to Bertrand's offer. He'd had the happiest times of his life in the Agency, not to mention he'd forgotten all about killing Iris. 

"So you think it's fun to trap us seventy-eight times?" Yusuke said angrily.

"Seventy-eight? My, aren't you slow. We've been through a couple hundred."

"That's because you know this place!"

Gamal could sense a portal building in one of the cabinets. The room they were in was a bedroom. There was a highboy cabinet to his right, just two seconds away. "That's why I'm here to give the clue, fools."

"You keep your mouth shut," Hiei hissed. 

Gamal ignored him. "Listen to me now. It's the first clue. In chess, the Black Chapter…moves like the king."

The portal was open. It would only last ten seconds. He needed to hurry.

"The what?" Kuwabara squeaked. 

"Chess, did you say?" Kurama said, startled. 

"I'll be seeing you." Gamal replied, and dashed into the cabinet. Explanations weren't his job. "Oh, and make sure to take the human to the bathroom next door. He stinks up the place." 

The last thing he saw before disappearing was the Reikai Tantei's astonished faces.

* * *

Yusuke was steaming. He stuck his head into the wardrobe, forgetting for a moment Kurama's warning of opening each cabinet with caution, and emerging with his head and hair covered in ash. 

"What the-" Kurama began to say. 

"I think you should consider yourself lucky that that's all the injury you got." Hiei deadpanned. 

"I wanted to follow him," spluttered Yusuke, spewing ash. 

"Of course he'd set it up in such a way that we couldn't," Kurama said. He rubbed his temples. "But I'll have to say that meeting Gamal's the best thing that could happen to us."

"I don't see how." Yusuke said, opening another cabinet, which fortunately contained nothing but fluffy white towels. "He was nothing but lip." Yusuke grabbed half a dozen of it before it could disappear. "Besides, I'm getting hungry. I don't dare look for food, either."

That much was true. In the five hours since the game had started, they discovered a few things pretty quickly: that the average time a cabinet's contents stayed put was anywhere from fifteen seconds to one minute (the Noxi Glue was spouting out of its cabinet for thirty seconds, luckily all it hit was Kuwabara). They haven't seen the Black Chapter. Out of the seventy-eight cabinets they opened, forty-one were trapped. They've had fire, a hurricane of bladed leaves, the unforgettable Noxi-Glue, and once even a cabinet that somehow activated the room's Foghorn. Kurama fought with a small army of one-eyed bats. Now they'd also found out that some of the cabinets could be portals. 

"What does he mean, that clue?" Kuwabara asked when he had gotten most of the goo off his face.

"I think…it means that the Black Chapter moves from room to room like how a king piece moves in chess," Kurama said thoughtfully. 

"Yeah, but how does a king move?" Hiei said impatiently. "And what is "Chess", anyway?"

"I forgot…Hiei doesn't know." Kurama sighed. "Well, chess is a human game. A game of strategy. Chess is played across a board filled with sixty-four alternating black and white squares. The king is the key player. Once your side loses its king, you lose. The king piece can move in any direction, but only one square at a time. Moves-wise, the king is almost as weak as a pawn, the weakest pieces."

"So? What does that mean?" Yusuke asked again.

"The Black Chapter can move only one room forward, backward, down, up, or sideways. Let's say we find the Black Chapter in one of the wardrobes here. But we were too late to catch it, it's already moved, set into motion, as Iris would say. The Black Chapter could be in the very next room to the left, or the previous room to the right, of in the room directly above us or below us, or any of the nearest sideways rooms. Imagine a chessboard., where the Black Chapter is the King. That's the clue, what Gamal was trying to say."

For a second they all stared at Kurama, trying to digest the idea. Then Kuwabara said, "Can you please say that again, slowly?"

Yusuke threw his sooty towel at him. "Just concentrate on following us and you'll do fine." 

Hiei walked to the door. 

"Where are you going?" Kurama asked him. 

"To get a move on."

"You're right," Yusuke said, hurrying to catch up. "But let's take Kuwabara to the bathroom first. Gamal's right, he stinks up the place." 

"Hey!"

* * *

that's the sixth chapter finished. please review! thanks for reading! 


	7. the white box

Recap: Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama capture an unknown girl with spirit powers one night at the park

Recap: Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama capture an unknown girl with spirit powers one night at the park. However, the girl turns out to be a crucial character in their next mission: retrieve the copy of the Black Chapter from the mysterious Agency of Curiosities. Iris is the leader in the team of three who created another copy of the Black Chapter. The Agents lead them willingly enough to the place where the Black Chapter is kept, but once morning comes, the YYH group finds their hosts gone. The Agents had tricked them into playing their game in an unknown house against unknown enemies. Will they find the Black Chapter before the Agents do? More importantly…Will they survive?

Summary: More discoveries are made about the Motion house. In the space between two traps, there grows a bond between the baffling leader of the Agents, and Kurama. Will he finally get some answers and end the game? Or will he fall prey to his own emotions?

Disclaimer: I do not own….anything. 

* * *

The good news was, he found a portal. The bad news was, he didn't know where it led.

What was more, he was alone. Where were the others? Were they safe? He stared at the pure white ceiling, thinking. What had happened, exactly? He remembered that Hiei had opened a cabinet. Then it turned out to be a miasma that sucked them all in. When he awoke, he was…

Here.

But where was here?

"So you're finally awake."

Kurama bolted upright. He knew that voice.

"Iris…" he said softly.

The white-haired girl was sitting cross-legged across from him, calmness radiating from her features. Her wings flowed limply from her back. She didn't seem to consider the possibility that he might attack her. He tightened with anger. It was the first time they had seen each other since last night.

"Why are you here?" he said coldly. "Where are the others? If you hurt them, I will kill you."

Her voice didn't have the slightest tremble of fear in it. "I am here for the same reason that you are here. The others are probably in some other room. That portal you opened led to random rooms. It's just your bad luck to land in the White Box with me."

She shifted slightly. "We are trapped here until someone else opens the exact same portal you opened. We might as well not act hostile before that happens."

He turned away. He was furious with all of them. This game was infuriating. It was hopeless. They had too much of an advantage. And this girl-behind those lustrous eyes hid a mask of deceit.

Or so he thought.

"You are angry?" she asked quietly.

"Of course I am!" he snapped, then took a deep breath. It wasn't like him to sound so irritable. "I just don't understand, Iris. Why are you doing this? Are you planning to kill us? If you are, let's settle this."

She shook her head. "No, Youko. You can put that thought out of your mind. I believe that you had already met Gamal, yes? We do not wish to kill you. Even now you are our clients. We have a strange code of honor, us Agents. We do not kill our clients. We never have. We might have betrayed them, but that always happens after a job, not during one. Think, Youko. If we wanted you dead, we would have been dancing on your graves now. We are very capable."

"Then what do you want?" he asked wearily. "You must have some purpose."

"Our purpose?" she said slowly, an absent-minded expression on her face. "Our goal is always: Client satisfaction guaranteed."

"We are not satisfied."

"Oh, come now," she said with a light laugh. "You expected this."

The word took him aback. He was about to protest that no, they didn't expect this, but then he remembered. Koenma had warned them to expect treachery.

And wasn't that what the Agents were doing? Fulfilling that expectation?

"But that doesn't mean that you can play with us this way," he argued.

"Youko, Youko, Youko. What good will it do if you ask so many questions? All your group needs to focus on is to find the Black Chapter. I give you my word that we will not kill you. In exchange, you would need to play this game."

He turned away. He did not like to admit it, but he liked Iris and wanted to trust her. She was a very admirable and powerful leader. She was intelligent and she did not harm his mother, at that time when she could have. She made Gamal and Icey follow her, despite their obvious differences…but that meant that she commanded this game, didn't it?

"Had you planned this all along?" he asked instead.

She nodded. "We do not deserve your trust, but remember that we did not ask for it."

Kurama fell silent for a long time, finally deciding that if the Agents wanted to kill them, they would have done so some time ago.

"Where are we?" he asked, changing the topic.

"We are in a room called the White Box," Iris told him. "The Black Chapter was here when we arrived. It is the starting point, but it can only be accessed from that portal. When we entered, it began to move from room to room. We have tried to search for this room since last night, so we would have a point to start, but it was only this morning that we found it. I found it again and it sucked me in." She hugged her knees. "The others must be close to finding this portal again. With five people looking, it should be easier."

To Kurama, the room really did look nothing more than a white box. There was neither windows nor a door, but light seemed to come from the very walls themselves, filling the room with a white light. He turned to Iris to ask how it was ventilated, when he realized that she was sweating in the cool room.

"Iris? What's the matter?" he asked worriedly. If they ran out of air, they were going to die, Iris' promise or no.

"I am fine." She mumbled, slumping forward weakly. He scrambled to catch her.

"What's happening, Iris? What-" he asked, then stopped in horror. He hadn't noticed, but one of her wings was torn almost clean off.

"How did this happen?" he said, voice thick with worry. Blood was trickling down his fingers, but the bleeding had almost stopped. A blood-soaked towel was pressed against her back, an awkward and painful reach for her. She must have been waiting here for a while. Gently, he set her down on the floor and began to search through his pockets for a remedy.

"When I…opened the portal, I tried to fight the miasma, or else I would be knocked unconscious like you did. I opened my wings, but the wind was too strong for me. It tore my…wing." She smiled. "I seem to have bad luck with my wings lately."

Kurama's thoughts were racing as he bandaged Iris. Theoretically, the White Box could only trap one person at a time, since opening it again from the outside releases any previous prisoners. If that was the case, Iris should have gotten out before he came in. How could he have been so stupid? Iris wasn't able to get out because she was injured.

"I will be fine, Youko." She said sleepily. "Stop worrying so much. I will heal quickly."

"If you don't stop bleeding, we won't be having this conversation."

"I know. Thank you."

Kurama softened. "There, that should do it." He said.

She sat up again. "Thank you, Youko."

"Call me Kurama." He said, embarrassed by her sincere gratitude.

She smiled. "I call you Youko because that was how I called you when I knew you."

He stared. "We knew each other?"

"In a previous life," she replied, "and only briefly. You might not remember. In fact, I am sure you don't remember. When I was very young, we met and you tried to steal from me. You succeeded. You are the only one who did."

"What did I steal from you?" he inquired, searching through his memories as Youko.

She paused for the slightest second and said, "My revenge."

"What do you mean?" he asked sharply.

But her golden eyes were far away and it was obvious that she was recalling something not entirely unpleasant, for there was a melancholy look in her lovely face.

She was born in the lap of luxury; she was the princess and heir of the tribe of the wind. Her name as Ra'zak, meaning golden blessing. Her eyes that had set her apart as an agent caught the attention of her kingdom. There had not been a golden-eyed ruler since the time of her great-grandfather.

* * *

_They were warriors of the sky. Her Father personally oversaw her training, and her Mother taught her the ways of the court. It seemed to her that the happy days, the golden afternoons learning the basics of fighting and of flight, the hours spent playing with her nannies and her toys, would go on forever. _

_Much was expected of her. It had been drilled into her. _

_"Ra'zak," her father had said. This was one of her clearest memories, before she left home._

_"Yes, Father?"_

_"There is trouble in the kingdom, and I will not be able to watch you train. The captain of the palace guard will be the one to take my place temporarily."_

_She glanced at the man behind her Father. "I understand."_

_The king smiled gently. "I will not take long, little golden blessing. I will be back before you know it."_

_She gave him a smile in return. "I will make you proud."_

_"I expect nothing less." Her Father stood. "But know that I will always be proud of you."_

_In human years, she had been five then. Her Father's words filled her with pride and love._

_The kingdom came first. The tribe of the wind lived in an island in the sky, much like the Koorime. However, it was brighter, and there had been one large island and three smaller ones. She loved it as she had loved her family. _

_She had been sheltered. She was protected from the intrigues of the court. Her formal training as a queen-to-be began when she would turn seven(in human years), and before that she barely knew anything about her country's current situation. _

_So when she came into the palace the day after her Father talked to her and saw that he killed her Mother, she was stunned. Yet there could be no one else. She had seen with her very own eyes that he had struck he blow that took her life. _

_"Mother!!" she screamed, running to her, but it was too late. In the years that followed, she could only remember that there had been a lot of blood…blood that stained her mother's white hair and darkened her navy blue robes. Mercifully she could not remember the wound in her chest that was the cause of her death. _

_She could not remember it except in her worst nightmares. _

_"Mother!" she sobbed, tears spilling from her golden eyes. She shook her, believing that she would wake, wishing that she would. Her Father was forgotten. She did not see the blankness in his blue eyes. In her mind, they were alone. There was no one in the world but her and her mother._

_She could still not understand what she was seeing. Why did he kill her mother? _

_"Mother…" she whispered. "Why? Why?"_

_"Very good, Yushen," a voice out of the shadows. "Now kill your daughter."_

_She looked up. She was wrong. They were not alone. Behind her Father was her granduncle. The previous king's younger brother. _

_The next in line for the throne, after her…_

_"Ra'zak…run…" her Father whispered. Only then did she realize that he was being controlled. She suddenly understood what exactly must have happened. _

_Her Father raised the dagger that killed her mother. The royal dagger that was sacred to the kingdom's sovereign. _

_The knife that was stained with his wife's blood._

_Her mother's blood…_

_She sat there beside her mother's corpse, quietly staring. Was she about to die? She felt no fear. She only wanted to be with her mother. _

_"Father…" she murmured. _

_At that precise moment some of her old Father seemed to gather in the King's eyes. He roared, "Get out, Ra'zak! Run! Fly!" _

_She jumped. Reflexively, her wings sprouted from her back. A lifetime of obeying her Father saved her in the end. _

_She was at the window when she turned back. And the sight that she saw last was burned into her memory. _

_Forever. _

_Her Father was thrusting the blade into his Uncle. Even while he was doing so, his Uncle was also sinking his own blade into her Father's chest. _

_"No, Father!" she had cried, turning back. _

_Her Father's last act was to save her. Looking up at her, he uttered the word of release for teleportation. Not for him. _

_For her…_

_And she heard him whisper, as gently as the wind. _

_"Ra'zak, I am sorry."_

_When she woke up, she realized that two men were staring at her._

_"You're awake?" said one. The speaker was a silver-haired man with white fox ears poking out from his head. She watched, fascinated. _

_"We should just leave her, Youko." Said the other man, a pale-faced man with long black hair. _

_"We can't." the first man, Youko, said curtly. "She has seen us."_

_She looked up at the sky. There, not a hundred feet above them, was the city. _

_The tribe of the wind…_

_"You came from there, didn't you?" the second one asked._

_She remembered the horror of her last hours. Everything that she had loved had been taken away from her…_

_What could she do? She would never be queen, not her, the daughter of a man who had been telepathically controlled into killing his wife. _

_The populace wouldn't let her. She was a disgraced princess. _

_She could never go back._

_Never._

_In that very moment she acquired the absent-minded expression that had been her disguise when she was thinking of something particularly serious. _

_She looked at the black-haired man in the eye. "No, not I.I was only visiting the city…"_

_His expression cleared. "Well, in that case, you won't mind if we plundered it, would you?"_

_Her eyes widened very slightly. Plunder her city?_

_"Kuronue," scolded Youko. "She is only a child."_

_Kuronue laughed. "True, we wouldn't need her permission, anyway. Where are your parents, girl?"_

_"Dead." She said blandly. She stared at the ground, daring him to continue. _

_But he didn't. "Why don't you come with us?" he invited. _

_She shook her head. "I have somewhere else to go to."_

_Youko raised her head gently. "Are you sure? We can use you."_

_She bit her lip. "I will never enter that city again."_

_Youko sighed. "You lost your parents there, didn't you? Very well, we will not insist. But all we ask is that you don't tell anyone about us."_

_She only looked up at him. "I will not."_

_"I would have thought you'd want to take revenge on the city that took your parents." Kuronue told her. _

_Youko sighed. "Don't listen to him."_

_She didn't react. But even as they walked away, she wished that she had come with them. Kuronue was right. She wanted revenge, and these two were going to steal it from her. _

* * *

"Iris!" someone called her from very far away. She snapped out of her reveries and stared into Kurama's green eyes.

"You…healed." He said.

She stood and flexed her wings experimentally. It was a bit stiff, but otherwise fine. "I told you." She looked up. "We should be found soon."

He nodded.

Iris looked at him. "I forgot to give you a clue."

"Yes, you did." Kurama realized.

"Oh, very well." She said with a sigh. "Listen to me then. The smallest holds the biggest secrets. That's my clue."

"The smallest…" Kurama repeated uncertainly.

"Holds the biggest secrets," she agreed, nodding.

Kurama was thoughtful. "That may be the most helpful clue we've had so far. It's easy to figure out."

"Don't count on it, you haven't heard Icey's clue. He tends to be more blunt than I am."

Kurama almost laughed. "He's blunt? I wouldn't have expected it."

"He does defy first impressions."

A wind began to blow; it seemed to be coming from their feet. Their hair blew upwards; Iris' braids were floating above her head.

"It appears that we have been found." Iris said softly over the whine of the wind. Above them, another black hole was forming-the way out. "And I think that it is Icey who found us. He's not fool enough to get trapped here. I was too careless in the first place."

Kurama glanced into her golden eyes. She smiled.

"I have always enjoyed my time with you, Youko." She murmured. "Then and now."

There was another gust of wind, and they were separated, heading to the black hole from different sides. Kurama was left to ponder her words.

Had anything changed? He'd like to think so.

* * *

Thanks for reading, please review! I'm laying out the OC's pasts before the big fight. Up next is Icey!


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